


Harry's life

by meshtams



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Badass Harry, Bisexual Harry Potter, Everyone is scared of Harry, Fifth Year, Gay Draco Malfoy, M/M, Outing, Panic Attack, Short Harry Potter, Slow Burn, Tall Draco Malfoy, Tall Remus Lupin, background homophobia, or as slow as it can get in only like 5600 words, short Sirius black
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28989093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meshtams/pseuds/meshtams
Summary: Harry's godfather is finally out of jail and can get him out of st brutus', and into hogwarts
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, background romione - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 138





	Harry's life

**Author's Note:**

> i didnt include it in the fic but my background for muggle remus' scars is him having been mauled by a rabid wolf as a child

“You’re a worthless fucking faggot, Potter!” Kane screeched across the courtyard.

“Good job, Kane, you finally picked up on what everyone else has known since before I even came here.” Harry laughed from his perch on the edge of the entryway roof. It’s not like he’d never heard it before, after all.

“Fuck you, Potter, you fucking freak.”

“That all you got to say?” Harry raised one thick brow sardonically, laughing to himself as Kane turned on his heel and stalked back inside. He lit up another cigarette and laid back, blowing smoke rings to entertain himself. Most of the other boys at St Brutus’ had split into gangs, but Harry had never seen the appeal. He’d never really been one of the ‘Incurably Criminal Boys’ after all, he’d just been unwanted. Plus, he’d been there year-round since he was 9, and at first he’d just been the kid they all liked to pick on. Well, that hadn’t lasted long. By the time he was 11, most of them had learned not to fuck with him. Sure, a few of the new transfers like Kane tried it, but they usually learned pretty quickly.

Harry knew he seemed like an easy target; he was skinny, shorter than most of the 13-year-olds, let alone the other 15-year-olds, wore old, round glasses, was legally blind in one eye and was openly bisexual. He seemed like some innocent little boy who wouldn’t, or couldn’t, fight back, he knew that, but he also knew he wasn’t. he might be skinny, but his body was all wiry muscle, and he was faster and smarter than all of the other boys put together, and he could hold his own in a fight against even the biggest boys there. He almost wished he could run into the Dursley’s now- back when he lived with them, he was just a scared kid, and it was all he could do to try and outrun Dudley or Uncle Vernon, but now he’d almost like the chance to introduce them to his infamous uppercut.

“Potter!” Harry’s favourite guard, Leo, called up to him. Leo was known for being the grumpiest and rudest guard, but Harry knew you just had to know how to interpret him- he was a pretty cool guy once you got past the prickly exterior. Or maybe it was just that he actually liked Harry, unlike the rowdy morons he had to deal with most of the time.

“Yes, dear?” Harry twisted until he was looking directly down at the doorway.

“Someone in the office to see you.”

“Really?” They weren’t generally allowed visitors at the centre, so it must be something serious. What, he had no idea.

“Yup. Get down and come on.” Harry saluted him mockingly and stood up, jumping down and landing perfectly. “Still don’t know how you do that, kid.” Leo shook his head.

“’s not high.” Harry shrugged, following along as Leo headed towards the front office. Harry hadn’t been in the office since he was dropped off about 6 years before. When Leo pushed open the door, Harry was mildly surprised to see the walls were a pale blue colour. He vaguely remembered them being an ugly yellow, so they must have repainted. Shaking himself mentally, he looked at the men by the desk. There was the Head, Mr Yaxley, standing with 2 men he’d never seen before. One of them was even shorter than he himself was, with long, wavy black hair and silvery eyes and a leather jacket, and the other was at least 6’4”, with mousy hair, amber eyes and at least 10 scars on his face, and more visible down his neck and across the hand resting on the shorter man’s shoulder.

“Harry?” The shorter man was staring at him as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. Harry nodded awkwardly. “Christ, you look just like your dad.”

“Your mum’s eyes though.” The taller man chipped in.

“Right. Sorry, who are you?” Harry raised his eyebrows and folded his arms in front of him.

“Right! Right, sorry, my name’s Sirius Black, and I’m your godfather-”

Harry interrupted him, “What, the same godfather who killed my parents? What the fuck?!” He turned to Leo, who was standing against the wall and smirking at his outburst.

“Ah, right, no, Sirius was actually wrongfully imprisoned for that. The real culprit, Peter Pettigrew, was just caught, so Sirius is a free man now.” The taller man smiled nervously.

“And who the fuck are you?” Harry knew he must be coming across as a bastard, but he couldn’t bring himself to care- this was too much. He dug his thumbs into his temples and closed his eyes.

“Harry, this is Remus Lupin. My fiancé.” Harry wondered vaguely why they seemed to keep answering the questions he aimed at the other one.

“Your fiancé. Yeah, alright, whatever. Why are you here?”

“Well, now that I’m a free man, I was wondering if you’d like to come and live with me and Moony, er, Remus. Your parents, they wanted us to raise you, but with me in prison and Remus not having any legal claim on you, it’s obviously not been possible ‘till now.” Sirius looked hopeful.

“You want me to live with you?” Harry was stunned. No one ever wanted him.

The men seemed to understand exactly what was going through Harry’s head- surely they’d been given his files by Yaxley; he remembered that for ‘Reason for Admittance’, Aunt Petunia had just written “don’t want him”- and both smiled reassuringly. “More than anything.”

“Uhm. Alright then. Yeah, sure.” He knew he must look like a mentally deficient owl with how much he was blinking, but the men just grinned at him.

“Well then, Potter, go and pack your things. I’ll draw up the release paperwork. You’ll be able to leave in about 30 minutes.” Yaxley’s gruff startled him out of his shock, and nodding to each man in turn, he turned and headed back to his room.

As the door swung shut behind him, he heard his godfather sob “He’s coming home with us, Moony!”

It didn’t take him long to pack up his things. The only clothes he had were still Dudley’s old cast-offs he was sent with, and as far as ‘personal items’ went, he only had his stash of cigarettes he’d been able to convince Leo to replace for him once a month. Within 10 minutes, he had everything thrown into a trash bag and was ready to head back to the office. When he swung open the door, he was greeted with the sight of Sirius still sobbing into Remus’ chest.

“Does he always cry this much?” Harry raised one brow and smirked at the men.

“N-” Sirius turned and started to defend himself, only to be interrupted by his fiancé.

“Yeah, pretty much. Dramatic bastard.” His voice was fond, and Harry couldn’t quite suppress the snicker at the pout on Sirius’ face. “So, Harry, the three of us will be living in my home in Hogsmeade, and you’re free to decorate your room however you want, and we’ll take you shopping tomorrow morning. You’ll be starting at Hogwarts Academy in a couple of weeks once half-term’s over, which is a private boarding school, but you’ll have your own room there too, in my suite, and will be able to come home with me on weekends if you like, seeing as I’ll be driving home each weekend to stay with Sirius.” Harry nodded, a little wide eyed at the idea of _him_ going to a private boarding school. “You’ll need to let me know which options classes you’ll be wanting to take before next week, but there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Yeah, okay.” Harry was already starting to realize that clearly Remus was the more put-together, organised one of the pair of them.

“Mr Black, Mr Lupin, Potter. Sign here, here and here, then you’re free to go.” Yaxley interrupted them. They all signed as quickly as possible and left, Sirius bouncing along like an excited puppy.

“Harry, do you know how to ride a motorbike?” Sirius suddenly stopped and turned to face him.

“Uh, no?” Harry’s face crinkled in confusion.

“Right, well, if you want, I’ll teach you this weekend then you can borrow my bike whenever you want, yeah?” Remus groaned, but Harry just grinned.

“Badass.”

Harry felt like he was in shock. His new home wasn’t just a boring old house, it was a gorgeous cottage at the edge of a tiny snowy village in Scotland. There was ivy growing up the outside, wrapping around the windows, and inside was just beautiful. Stone floors, log fires in each room, and neutral-coloured walls that just made him feel at home. His room was already nicer than any he’d had before (although it wasn’t hard- the cupboard under the stairs at his relatives’ house and the dorm he’s had to share with 3 other boys weren’t exactly the height of luxury), and they’d said he could decorate it however he wanted. He liked it as it was, but he wanted to paint the walls green and maybe get a few blankets or pillows or something. He said as much to Sirius who just grinned.

The next morning he woke at 5:30, as he had every morning since the age of 4, and quickly showered and dressed before going to poke around the kitchen. He hoped there was coffee of some kind. He wasn’t particularly surprised to find one of those fancy pod coffee machines on the worktop and a basket full of different pods beside it. He found the biggest mug he could and used a couple of the cappuccino pods. He slipped on his busted trainers and headed out of the front door, lighting up a cigarette with his free hand and leaning against the wall. He took the first sip of his coffee and spoke out loud to himself, “Oh, that’s a lot better than the coffee at St Brutus’.”

He was surprised, therefore, and almost spilled his drink down himself when an amused voice came from the door behind him, “I’m sure it is.”

“Jesus fuck! You scared the shit out of me!” Harry whipped around, pulling his fag out from between his lips.

Remus chuckled warmly. “Sorry. Good morning.”

Harry huffed a laugh. “Morning.”

“I’ll get Sirius up at 8 so we can go shopping. You said you want green paint, so we’ll go to the hardware shop first, then into town, alright?”

“Uh, yeah, if that’s okay.” Remus smiled at him.

“Of course. We can get some stuff for your room at Hogwarts, too, while we’re out.”

“Okay, cool.” Harry ducked his head and took a drag of his cigarette.

Remus reached out and squeezed his shoulder briefly before turning and going back inside and Harry couldn’t fight the smile that made its way onto his face.

Harry picked out his paint from the hardware store, a beautiful forest green, and two hand-knitted blankets in the same colour from a nice woman at the market, who Remus and Sirius seemed to know. She had red hair and tutted about how skinny he was, and once they walked away Remus told him her name was Molly Weasley, and that her son would be in his class at Hogwarts. Then came the clothes shopping. Harry had never been into a clothes shop before, but years of masking what he was feeling at the Dursleys’ and St Brutus’ meant at least he wasn’t gawping. Rails and rails of different clothing in every shop- he’d spent the last 6 years rotating the same 3 outfits. He ended up with multiple pairs of tight black jeans, some artfully torn, some not, a bunch of black t-shirts, some plain, some with bands he liked, some with slogans or phrases that made him laugh to himself, a few chunky sweaters in grey, black and green, a pair of black leather combat boots, his own leather biker jacket like Sirius’, contact lenses and a black and grey backpack. He was surprised when on their way back to the car Sirius headed into a little piercing shop.

“Hey, Marls.” He greeted the woman at the counter.

“Sirius. Not in jail?”

“Shut it, you already knew I was innocent.” He grinned at her, shaking his hair out of his face. “Where’s Dorcas? I want my septum done.”

“She’s just gone for a fag, she’ll probably be back in 5.” She pulled out a consent form and slid it across the counter to him.

Harry watched them interact with growing interest. He turned to Remus. “Can I get a piercing?” It’d never occurred to him before, but it suddenly seemed like a brilliant idea.

Remus smiled. “If you want.” When Harry grinned he turned back towards Sirius. “Pads, Harry wants a piercing too.”

Sirius turned gracefully, a goofy grin on his face. “Ooh, what do you want, kiddo?”

“Eyebrow?”

“Marls, you heard the kid.” She rolled her eyes at him and grabbed a second consent form.

“One of you two’ll have to sign for him too.” Sirius leaned over and scrawled his name where she tapped, and Remus nudged Harry to go sign it. “Okidoke.” A second, taller girl came through the side door as Harry put the pen back down, and she grinned as she saw Sirius.

“SIRIUS!” She launched herself at him, wrapping him up in a hug. “Remus told us you’d been let out finally!”

He laughed at her. “Yup, Peter finally got caught and admitted he’d framed me. Now, I’m wanting my septum done and my godson wants his eyebrow done.”

“Harry?” She let go of Sirius and turned to Harry. “Oh my god!” She launched herself at him and almost toppled him over. “Oh my god, you look so much like your dad!” She pulled back to look down into his face. “God, your eyes are just like Lily’s. So, you want your eyebrow done? Same side as the scar or opposite?”

“Uh, same, I guess.”

“Fab. That’ll look right handsome on you. Okay, Sirius first then Harry.” She turned and headed into the little piercing room, Sirius following.

The two weeks between moving in with Sirius and Remus and starting school seemed to fly by, especially with most days being filled with motorbike lessons on Sirius’ bike, and practically before he knew it, he was packing his stuff into Remus’ car ready to move into his dorm. He was definitely glad he’d have his own room at Hogwarts too, because after finally having his own space for the first time in his life, he wasn’t ready to give it up and share a room with a bunch of strangers. A fun perk to having a teacher as a guardian, he supposed. He was startled as the pulled up at the school to see that it wasn’t a square new-build like every school he’d seen before, but a _castle_.

He heard Remus chuckle from the driver’s side. “I know.”

“Harry Potter?” They were greeted at the entrance by a grandfatherly old man with a long silver-white beard.

“’s me.” Harry nodded at him.

“Right, lovely to meet you, young man. I’m Headmaster Dumbledore. Classes will be starting tomorrow, but before that, you need to pick your house.”

Harry just stared blankly. “House?”

“Shit.” Remus turned to him. “I knew I was forgetting something. Harry, Hogwarts has 4 houses that students are divided into. It basically just dictates which colour tie you wear, which common room you have access to, which table you sit at for meals and which house gains or loses points for your behaviour. It would also be who your roommates are, but you’re staying with me.”

“Oh. Alright. What colour are the houses, then?”

“Gryffindor is red, Ravenclaw is blue, Hufflepuff is yellow and Slytherin is green.” Remus looked very much like he already knew which he’d choose.

“Slytherin then.” The headmaster pulled out a green tie and a copy of Harry’s timetable and handed them over.

“There’s that sorted, then. I’ll let you get settled in and see you at dinner this evening.” Dumbledore nodded to them and headed up the stairs.

“Alright. My rooms are this way.” Remus grabbed one of Harry’s bags off of him and headed down the corridor towards another set of stairs that led to the professors’ suites.

Once they got up the stairs, Remus led him towards the door at the very end. The suite itself wasn’t as nice as the cottage, but it was close. The same neutral colour pallet and a comfortable looking sofa were evident in the sitting room, and there were 2 doors on the back wall.

“Okay, your room is that one.” Remus pointed to the right door, passing Harry his bag back. “Dinner is at 7 in the Great Hall, you can walk down with me and I’ll introduce you to your head of house, Professor Snape. He’s also the chemistry teacher. If you want to smoke you’ll have to go downstairs and around back, because if you smoke out of your window it will set off the smoke alarms, trust me.”

“Okay, cool.” Harry headed to his room and swung open the door, smiling to see that it was almost identical to his room at home, only with grey walls instead of green. He spread out his green blanket over his bed and put his clothes away before flopping down onto the bed with the book he was reading. He’d borrowed it off of Remus, and it was already better than any of the books he’d read at St Brutus’.

He was startled out of his book by a knock at his door. “Harry? Dinner.” Remus’ voice called.

“Shit, hang on.” Harry shot up, dropping his book onto the bed and reaching for his boots. Once he had them laced up, he pulled his jacket on and opened the door, running one hand through the curly black mess that was his hair. He’d had it shaved into an undercut, but it was still out of control. “Okay, sorry, I was reading.”

“It’s fine. Come on.”

When they reached the great hall, Remus guided Harry to a tall teacher dressed in all black, with sallow skin, greasy black hair hanging down to his collar and a large, hooked nose. “Harry, this is Professor Snape. Severus, this is Harry Potter. He’ll be one of your Slytherins.”

The man stared down his really abnormally large nose at him. Harry knew that even with the new clothes and haircut he looked a bit scruffy- half the students in the hall were wearing collared shirts and slacks or formal skirts, and there he was in ripped jeans and a Weird Sisters t-shirt. “Mr Potter. Welcome to Hogwarts.” The professor’s voice was sneering and cold, and Harry smirked internally- chances are he’d like this teacher. Externally, he just nodded silently.

“Okay, Harry, that’s your table.” Remus pointed to the far-left table, where Harry’s eyes instantly landed on the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. He was clearly tall, even sat down, with white blond hair, grey eyes and a sharp, angular face. Everything about him seemed cold and aristocratic, but somehow it was the most attractive thing he’d ever seen. He headed towards the table, sitting down across from a Pug-faced girl with a severe black bob.

She looked up as he sat. “I think you’re at the wrong table.” Even her voice was bitchy.

“Nope.” He served himself a small plate of steak and veg.

“This is the Slytherin table.”

He sighed and looked up at her, raising his pierced brow. “I’m aware.” His voice was cold and even.

“You’re not a Slytherin, ergo, you’re at the wrong table.” She spoke to him as if he were a moron when he’d be willing to place money on his being smarter than her.

He rolled his eyes, eating a bite of his steak before answering. “I am a Slytherin.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Fine, whatever.” He honestly couldn’t be arsed to deal with her, so he just turned back to his dinner.

“Not whatever! You can’t sit here when you’re not a Slytherin!”

He was running out of patience fast. He looked back up and snarled at her, laughing internally as she flinched back. “I am a Slytherin, and if you don’t shut the fuck up I’ll smash your head against the fucking table.”

“You can’t hit a girl!” One of the boys to his left shouted.

“Would you rather I hit you? Leave me the fuck alone.” Harry sat back to try again to eat his dinner, only to be interrupted by the Headmaster speaking from the front of the hall. ‘fuck that’ he thought to himself and carried on eating.

“As I’m sure some of you have noticed, we have a new student this term. Harry Potter is a transfer from St Brutus’ Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys, and will now be a member of Slytherin House. I hope to see you all welcome him warmly.”

Whispers suddenly started circulating, and Harry felt hundreds of eyes on him. He pushed his half-full plate away and stood up, rolling his eyes as almost everyone in the hall watched him leave. He headed up towards his room, but was intercepted by professor Snape.

“Mr Potter. I expect you’re enjoying making a scene-”

Harry cut him off. “Don’t be fucking stupid. I’m not making a scene; I’m going to bed. Hopefully tomorrow I won’t be gawped at or fucking challenged when I try to eat. Goodnight, sir.”

“Detention. Never speak to me like that. Tomorrow evening you will be spending an hour scrubbing beakers.”

“Fine, whatever.” Harry turned away and headed towards the stairs.

The next morning, Harry woke as normal and thanked god that Remus had another little coffee pod machine in the sitting room. He gulped down his cappuccino and rinsed his mug before heading to take a shower. Once he was showered, he dressed in his uniform, his black oversized sweater and his boots and grabbed a pack of fags.

The castle was definitely nicer at this time in the morning. The sun was only just rising, and it cast colours on the stone walls. The door outside was large and ornate, but that also meant it was heavy as fuck. The smoking area Remus had told him about was just outside there, and apparently its where students had been hiding to smoke since him and Sirius were at school there. Harry could see that there was someone already there, but he just decided he’d ignore them. He flopped down onto the old brick wall of what clearly used to be an outhouse, on the other side to the other person. He took out a cigarette from his pack only to realize he’d forgotten his lighter.

“Shit.” He said to himself, finally looking up at the other person, only to realize it was the gorgeous blond guy he’d seen yesterday. ‘Oh fuck. Okay, come on, Harry, just ask him for a light. He’s just another student, it’s all good.’ He thought to himself. “Can I borrow a light?” Harry’s voice was as flat and even as ever and he mentally sighed in relief.

The blond startled and looked up. He passed over his lighter, one of those pretentious sterling silver Zippos. “You’re Harry, right?” It took all of Harry’s self-restraint not to melt at the sound of his voice. A smooth, mellow baritone that was just the right side of posh.

“Mm.”

“Draco. Draco Malfoy.” He introduced himself, and god- Harry almost wanted to laugh at the ridiculous name, but somehow it suited him perfectly. He just nodded, handing the lighter back over and looking up to the sun rising over the forest.

Harry skipped breakfast; he hadn’t ever really gotten into eating 3 meals a day. He could usually just about eat lunch and dinner, but sometimes even that was too much. He instead stayed outside until first period. His first class was Chemistry with professor Snape, so he headed down to the science corridor down in the dungeons. Remus had told him that the Slytherin common room was also down in the dungeons, but he hadn’t been down to look yet. When he entered the classroom, he sat on the 3-person desk closest to the back corner and got out his textbook and notebook. He was surprised when someone sat down beside him.

“Harry Potter, right? I’m Hermione Granger.” He looked up and sneered at the girl. Couldn’t she tell he wanted to be left alone?! “Don’t bother, you don’t scare me.”

He was about to reply when another voice came from behind the girl. “Maybe he should.” Harry hadn’t seen the boy before, because even as tall as he was, he was completely hidden behind her thick curls.

“Don’t be silly, Ronald.” Harry raised a brow at her. “Its clear you’re not that dangerous. I’m sure you could be if you wanted, but you’re not. So, we’re going to be friends.” Her no nonsense, matter of fact tone was what got him and he cracked a grin.

“Alright then. Harry.” He nodded at both of them.

“Hermione.” She smiled and held out her hand to shake. Harry shook.

“I’m Ron. Ron Weasley.”

“Oh, shit! I bought a couple of blankets off of your mum a couple of weeks ago.” He laughed.

The redhead’s ears burned pink, and he opened his mouth as if to reply but was interrupted by Professor Snape. “Now, today we will be reviewing ‘Bonding, structure, and the properties of matter’, with a focus on ionic compounds. I hope you have all read the chapter before coming to class today. Now, Potter!” Harry looked up at him and met the professor’s cold black eyes. “What is the formula of a sulphide ion?”

“S2-” Harry’s voice and eyes were flat, and his textbook was closed in front of him.

“What type of forces hold an ionic lattice together?”

“Electrostatic.”

“Which group is the ion Ba2+ a part of?”

“Group 2.”

“Correct on all counts, Potter. It seems as though you may not be as big a dunderhead as you look. Now-”

After class, Hermione and Ron followed him towards Remus’ classroom.

“You have English next too?” Hermione asked. He just nodded. “Oh, Professor Lupin is the best. You’ll love him.”

Harry snickered. “I live with him, Hermione.”

Harry heard Ron laugh and saw Hermione flush. “Oh. Well. Anyway, he’s our best teacher. Have you met anyone else here yet?” Harry had only known her for an hour and a half, but he’d already noticed that Hermione was rather nosy.

“Hm. You 2, Remus, Snape, Pug-Bitch and Draco.”

Ron cracked up. “Pug-Bitch? You mean Parkinson?”

“Dunno. Didn’t get her name.” He shrugged.

“Draco? Draco Malfoy?” Hermione frowned a little.

“Yeah. Seems alright, can’t talk to him though.”

“Why not, mate? I mean, he’s a prat, so its no big loss.”

“Have you fucking seen him? That guy is so fucking gorgeous I practically lose my bloody voice. I got like one sentence out and a ‘Mm’, and that’s it.”

Hermione smiled to herself while Ron gaped. “Ferret-face is gorgeous? Mate, you’ve got to work on your taste!”

Harry and Hermione both burst out laughing as they came up outside Remus’ classroom. He opened the door and leaned against the frame. “What’s so funny?”

Ron still looked shocked, and turned to Remus. “Harry thinks bloody _Malfoy_ is fit!”

Remus looked over at Harry and made eye contact, his mouth tugging into a wry grin. “You know he’s Sirius’ cousin?” Harry shook his head. “Yup, on his mother’s side. Now, come on in.”

The rest of the week passed uneventfully, between classes where he’d already taught himself everything, hanging around with Ron and Hermione, and at the weekend he joined Remus in going home to visit Sirius. He settled into a routine fairly easily, and before he knew it a month had passed.

It was 9:45 on a Wednesday evening and he was headed down to the smoking spot for his last fag of the night, when he came across Draco Malfoy in one of the alcoves. The taller boy was curled in on himself and visibly having a panic attack, his shoulders shaking and tears running down his delicate cheeks. As soon as he saw him, Harry stopped and dropped to his knees in front of him.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay. I’m here. Deep breath, come on, follow my breathing.” Harry softened his voice and made sure that he was taking deep, clear breaths. Can I touch you?” Draco nodded, taking a shuddery breath, and Harry reached out, splaying one hand over his shoulder and wrapping the other around his forearm gently. “Okay, come on, in and out.”

Once Draco calmed down enough to speak, he murmured a quiet “Sorry.”

“Hey, no, it’s all good. Do you want to talk about it?”

Draco hesitated a moment before nodding, hesitantly. “I’m being disowned. The papers will all be signed in the morning.” His voice was quiet and shaky.

“Shit. Shit man, I’m so sorry. Why?”

“M-my roommate, Theo, he found out I’m gay and outed me to my father and the rest of the house.”

“Oh, shit. And your father’s homophobic?” Harry wasn’t the best at being empathetic, but he was trying his best. Draco nodded.

“Yeah, and now I’m going to be homeless and broke and I can’t even go in to the dorms because my roommates are all homophobic as well.”

“Well, you can come stay in my rooms for now, yeah? I doubt Remus’ll mind. I’m just going for a fag, if you want to join me.”

Draco shot him a watery smile and nodded. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Also, if you need me to beat Theo up, that’s chill.”

Draco laughed, startled. “He’ll have Crabbe and Goyle protecting him, so it’s probably best you don’t try.”

“Doesn’t bother me, if you want me to I could probably get all three of them in the hospital wing within, like, 10 minutes.”

“Harry, you’re like 5’7”, and you’re nearly as skinny as me. You’ve seen Crabbe and Goyle.”

“Draco, I think you’re forgetting where I transferred from.” He laughed. “All the boys at St Brutus’ knew not to fuck with me by the time I was 11 because I’m both just as strong and 5 times smarter than the lot of them. If you want me to beat them up, I’d be happy to.”

Draco let out a laugh that was bordering on a giggle. “Thanks.”

Once they finally got back up to Remus and Harry’s suite, Draco was smiling and laughing, and Harry didn’t think he’d ever seen anything more beautiful than Draco’s smile. He caught himself staring dreamily and flushed, hoping that Draco hadn’t noticed. He had.

Harry pushed open the door to the suite and saw Remus sat on the sofa with a pile of marking. “Remus, Draco’s gonna be staying here, is that alright?”

Remus arched his eyebrow. “Oh?”

Harry flushed and shook his head “Not like that.”

Draco’s cheeks were dusted pink, and he couldn’t help but think that Harry was adorable, his soft brown cheeks flushed red. “I can’t go back to my dorm.”

Remus frowned. “Why not? You’re welcome to stay here, of course.”

“Theo Nott outed me to the house and my father.” Comprehension dawned on Remus’ face- most of Draco’s dormmates were children of the bigoted, upper-class families.

“Right. Of course, you can stay here as long as you need. I’m sure Harry will be happy to share his room.”

“You can take the bed, if you want. I’ll sleep out on the sofa.” Harry said as soon as they entered his room.

“If you want. We could just share.” Harry’s head snapped up, and he saw the pink flush spreading across Draco’s face.

“Yeah, or we could share.” Harry’s voice was soft again.

Draco stepped in front of Harry, leaning down slightly and wrapping him up in a hug. Harry stood frozen for a second before wrapping his arms around the taller boy, pulling him close and burying his face in his neck.

They stood like that for a few moments, until Draco leaned back slightly, making sure to still hold onto Harry lightly. “I really want to kiss you.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “Can I?”

“Oh, fuck yes.” Harry leaned up and threaded one square hand into Draco’s fine blond hair, pressing their lips together. The kiss deepened, and Harry walked them backwards until Draco’s legs hit the side of the bed and he fell. Harry positioned himself comfortably and continued kissing him until Draco broke away.

“Christ, I’ve wanted to kiss you since you threatened Pansy.”

That startled a laugh out of Harry. “Really?” His eyes crinkled at the corners.

“Yeah.” Draco’s laugh was breathy.

“I’ve liked you since the first day, too.”

The next morning, gossip had spread from Slytherin and to the entire school, and by the time first period rolled around, everyone was talking about how Draco Malfoy was being disowned for being gay.

No one had seen Draco since about 9PM the night before, and there was a lot of gossip about where he might have been since then.

No one had expected him to walk into first period Physics with Professor McGonagall, his arm around Harry Potter’s shoulders. No one had anticipated Harry leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek before heading for his seat at the back with Ron and Hermione. Certainly no one had expected Draco Malfoy to look happier than he had since first year. He smiled to himself as he sat down beside Padma Patil.


End file.
